Roadmap to Residency: - AAMC

Roadmap to Residency: FromApplication to the Match and Beyond• Study at a medical school outsideof the United States and Canadalisted in the International MedicalEducation Directory published bythe ECFMG’s Foundation forAdvancement of InternationalMedical Education and Research(IMED, http://imed.ecfmg.org/)• Completion of all formal requirementsof the foreign medical schoolexcept for internship and/or socialservice• Attainment of a score satisfactoryto the sponsoring medical schoolon a screening examination, and• Attainment of passing scores onSteps 1 and 2 of the United StatesMedical Licensing Examination(USMLE).Three U.S. schools currently offer thefinal year of supervised clinicaleducation required of Fifth Pathwaystudents: New York Medical College(www.nymc.edu/depthome/fifth.asp),Mt. Sinai School of Medicine of NewYork University (www.mssm.edu/medschool/fifth_pathway/), and PonceSchool of Medicine (www.psm.edu,[click on “Academic Affairs,” then“Programs”]). Additional informationabout the Fifth Pathway programcan be found on the AmericanMedical Association’s Web site (AMA,www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/9306.html).Note: Fifth Pathway applicants whowish to use the Electronic ResidencyApplication Service (ERAS,www.aamc.org/eras.htm) to apply toresidency training programs mustobtain their electronic token (aunique access code) from theECFMG to access the MyERAS Website (www.aamc.org/eras).Note: To participate in the NationalResident Matching Program (NRMP,www.nrmp.org), Fifth Pathway applicantsmust have satisfied the medicalscience examination requirements forECFMG Certification (USMLE Step 1and Step 2 Clinical Knowledge [CK]and Clinical Skills [CS]), and theresults must be available by theNRMP rank order list (ROL)deadline. Applicants who have previouslypassed the former ECFMGClinical Skills Assessment (CSA) andachieved a score acceptable to theECFMG on an English languageproficiency test (e.g., the Test ofEnglish as a Foreign Language[TOEFL, www.ets.org/toefl/] or theformer ECFMG English test) can usethose passing performances to fulfillthe Step 2 CS requirement.4. “Students” vs. “graduates”ACGME regulations require thatphysicians beginning residencyprograms be graduates of the medicaleducation programs listed above.Individuals may apply for residencyprograms in their final year ofmedical school, with the expectationthat they will complete all programrequirements before beginningresidency training. If all of thoserequirements have not beencompleted, residency training mustbe deferred.For international medical graduates,the ECFMG notes that both medicalschool students and graduates maybegin the ECFMG Certificationprocess. However, since ECFMGrequires primary source, independentverification of the medical diplomaand receipt of a full transcript fromthe medical school, an applicant forECFMG Certification cannotcomplete the ECFMG Certificationprocess until he or she has graduatedfrom the medical school and actuallyreceived his or her diploma.For senior medical students enrolledin U.S. medical schools, the NRMPrequires that medical schoolsimmediately revoke the school’ssponsorship of any applicant who isdetermined by the school official tobe ineligible to enter a residencytraining program on July 1 in theyear of the Match and that schoolsnotify the NRMP of that action priorto the rank order list certificationdeadline.5. USMLEU.S. medical schools’ requirements ofstudents differ with regard to takingand achieving a passing score on theUSMLE Step 1 and USMLE Step 2Clinical Knowlegde (CK) and ClinicalSkills (CS) examinations prior tograduation. Students enrolled at U.S.medical schools will not be able tobegin their residency training untilthey have completed all degreerequirements and graduated fromtheir medical school. For more informationon each medical school’sgraduation requirements, see theAAMC’s Curriculum Directory(http://services.aamc.org/currdir/).3Association of American Medical Colleges, 2005